Irrigation carriage

ABSTRACT

An irrigation line move has a pipe supported by carriages with flexible, tapered trusses below the pipe extending between the carriages with the central portions of the trusses rotatable on and slidable along the pipe. Control boxes over the carriages mount switches which are actuated by bars attached to the pipe to stop the carriages when excessive misalignment is approached. A center pivot water supply device has a flushing exit, and a slip ring connector for electrical power to electric motor drives of the carriages. The carriages have adjustable wheel supports to provide toe-in.

States Patent [1 1 il'nite Ross [ IRRIGATION CARRIAGE Warren N. Ross,2123 N. First St., Hermiston, Oreg. 97838 [22] Filed: Feb. 25, 1971 [21]App]. No.: 119,023

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 836,739, June 26,1969,

[76] Inventor:

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 280/80 R, 180/14 R [51] Int. Cl B60!) 3/30, B60b 35/10 [58]Field of Search 280/80, 81, 404,

[56] 1 I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,857,169 10/1958Spannhake ..280/ 80R Aug. 14, 1973 Wheeler 305/32 X Dowd 239/177 PrimaryExaminer-Kenneth H. Betts Attorney-Buckhorn, Blore, Klarquist & SparkmanABSTRACT An irrigation line move has a pipe supported by carriages withflexible, tapered trusses below the pipe extending between the carriageswith the central portions of the trusses rotatable on and slidable alongthe pipe. Control boxes over the carriages mount switches which areactuated by bars attached to the pipe to stop the carriages whenexcessive misalignment is approached. A center pivot water supply devicehas a flushing exit, and a slip ring connector for electrical power toelectric motor drives of the carriages. The carriages have adjustablewheel supports to provide toe-in.

2 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures Pmmznwsmm 3352.495

saw u or 5 24 FIG. 8 2

PATENTEDMIS 14 I975 SHEET 6 BF 6 IRRIGATION CARRIAGE CROSS REFERENCE TORELATED APPLICATION This application is a division of my applicationSer. No. 836,739, now abandoned filed June 26, I969, entitled IrrigationLine Move.

DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a new and improved irrigation linemove, and more particularly to a new and improved trussed irrigationline move.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved irrigationline move.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved trussedirrigation line move.

A further object of the invention is to provide an irrigation line inwhich a pipe thereof is supported by flexible trusses mounted rotatablyon and slidable along the pipe and extending between carriagessupporting the pipe.

Another object of the invention is to provide an irrigation line movehaving a flexible pipe and actuating bars secured at spaced points tothe pipe and adapted to actuate controls when the pipe flexes topredetermined extents.

Another object of the invention is to provide an irrigation line movehaving a center pivot water supply device provided with an outlet pipewhich may be opened to flush out debris and having a rotary electricconnector to connect electric lines extending along the pipe to controland power circuitry.

The invention provides a new and improved irrigation line move includinga flexible irrigation pipe, a plurality of carriages supporting the pipeand a plurality of trusses tapering from large at the central portionsthereof to smaller at the ends thereof secured at the ends thereof tothe carriages and secured rotatably to the pipe at the central portionsof the trusses. Preferably the trusses include tension memberspositioned below the level of the pipe. In one specific embodiment, theline may include a misalignment detector in the form of a bar secured atone end to the pipe and adapted to actuate a control switch remote fromthe one end when the pipe is bent to predetermined extent. Also, theline move may be of the center pivot type including a water supplyingpipe on the upper end of which may be mounted a rotatable coupling andhaving a flushing pipe normally closed by a valve, and a slip ring type,rotary electrical coupling at its upper end.

In the drawings:

FIG. I is a fragmentary, perspective view of an irrigation line moveforming one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlargedd, fragmentary, top plan view taken along line 2-2of FIG. 1;

FIG. '3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevation view taken alongline 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line 4-4 ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevation view taken along line5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view taken alongline 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, horizontal sectional view takenalong line 7-7 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, top plan view of a portion of theirrigation line move of FIG. I; I

FIG. 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line 9-9 ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevation view taken alongline 10-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view taken alongline 11-11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged, fragmentary, horizontal sectional view takenalong line 12-12 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevation view taken alongline 13-13 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged, fragmentary, top plan view of an actuatorstructure of the irrigation line move of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 15 is a diagrammatic view of a control circuit of the irrigationline move of FIG. 1.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown therein anirrigation line move forming one embodiment of the invention andincluding a continuous, high strength, flexible steel pipe 10 havingflanged pipe lengths 12 rigidly bolted together at the flanged ends 13thereof and of substantially uniform flexibility throughout'its length.The pipe is supported at spaced points by carriages 14, each of which isdriven by an electric motor drive 16 having an electric motor 17 and agear reducer 18 (FIGS. 3 and 4) to drive sprockets 20 which drive chains22 and sprockets 23 to drive rubber tired, flotation and traction wheels24. Overhead trusses 28 (FIG. 1) span the end carriages and provide beamsupport to the end portions of the pipe 10.

Tapered, floating trusses 30, which are positioned below the pipe andsecured at both ends of each truss to the adjacent carriages, providebeam support to the pipe, resist twisting of the pipe, and assumesubstantial portions of both longitudinal tension and longitudinalcompression loads on the irrigation line. Each of the trusses 30includes a rigid, triangular, center frame 32 mounted rotatably on andslidably along the pipe 10 by a strap-like split collar 34 which freelyrotates and freely slides on the pipe. Each truss 30 also includes tworigid, triangular outer frames 36 which are somewhat smaller than theframe 32, and each frame 36 is located about halfway between the frame32 and the adjacent end of the truss 30. Each frame 36 is mountedrotatably on and slidably along the pipe by a strap-like split collar38. The members of the frames 32 and 36 are preferably substantiallyrigid metal tubes welded together at the apices of the frames.Perforated end plates 39 (FIGS. 12 and 13) rigid on rod members 40 aresecured by nuts 42 and angularly extending threaded pins 44 rigid withthe frames 32 and 36 t0 the lower apices of the frames 32 and 36 toconnect these apices of one frame to those of the adjacent frame orframes. The frames 32 and 36 are connected suff ciently rigidly to therod members 40 to keep the frames 32 and 36 in parallel planessubstantially perpendicular to the pipe. Perforated end plates (notshown) like the plates 39 and rigidly connected to .th rod members 46(FIGS. 1 and 2) are connected by the nuts 42 and the pins 44 to theapices of the frames 32 and to the rod members 40. The opposite endportions of the rod members 46 are threaded, extend somewhat loosely androtatably through holes 47 (FIGS. 3, 4 and 9) in connector plates 48 and59 rigidly fixed on opposite ends of the carriages. The rod members 46are s'ecured to the connector plates 48 and 49 by nuts'50 screwed ontothe rod members 46 and abutting the connector plates. The frames 32 and36 form similar triangles with the base of the frame 32 being wider thanthe base of each frame 36, with the frames 36 being spaced equaldistances apart from the frame 32 andd the frames 36 each being spacedthe same distance from the frame 32 as the space between that frame 36and the adjacent connector plate 48 or 49.

The holes 47 in the connector plates 48 and 49 are spaced closely enoughtogether to taper the end sections of the trusses 30 and lie, with thecenterline of the pipe 10, on the apices of a triangle similar to butmuch smaller than the triangles of the frames 32 and 36, as best shownin FIG. 4. The somewhat close spacing together of the holes 47 to eachother and to the centerline of the pipe imparts some flexibility intothe end sections of the trusses 30 to permit the central portions of thetrusses 30 to rotate substantially, as great as 45 in some instances,about the pipe, but the holes 47 are far enough apart from each otherand from the centerline of the pipe to keep the end sections of thetrusses 30 from being too flexible. In one constructed embodiment, thepipe 10 was six and one-half inches in diameter, the length of each ofthe bases of the frames 36 was 4 feet, the length of each of the basesof the frames 32 was feet, each frame 36 was spaced twelve feet from theadjacent frame 32 and twelve feet from the adjacent connector plate 48or 49, the length of the portions of the pipe between the connectorplates 48 and 49 of each carriage was 5 feet, and the distance betweeneach pair of the holes 47 in the connector plates was about inches.

Each carriage 14 (FIGS. 3, 4 and 5) has a rigid, trusslike frameincluding a rigid, triangular, sloping section 60 welded to theconnector plate 48, a rigid, triangular, vertical frame 62 welded to theconnector plate 49, a connector bar 64 welded to the connector plates 48and 49 and cross-framing rigidly connecting base members 66 and 68 ofthe frames 60 and 62 and on which the drives 16 are mounted. Axles 70carried by the wheels 24 are supported by self-aligning pillow blockbearings 72 mounted adjustably on outwardly projecting end portions ofthe base members 66 and 68 by bolts 74 extending closely through holes76 and 78 in a U-shaped slide 80 and extending loosely through slots 82and 84 in the top and bottom portion of the members 68, which are squaretubes. An adjustment screw 86 may be actuated to move each pillow blockbearing 72 along its member 66 or 68 to toe in or cant the wheels 24 asdesired. A flange 88 of the slidde 80 longitudinally guides movement ofthe pillow block 72 under the slide 80 and gussets 90 welded to themembers 66 and 68 and adjacent legs of the frames or sections 60 limitsidewise horizontal movement of the slides 80 relative to the members 66and 68. This mounting of the bearings permits location of the axles 70as desired to provide optimum chain tension and optimum toe-in of thewheels. The connector plates 48 and 49 have rigid lower clamp halfportions 92 forming split clamps with clamp halves 94 and clamp the pipe12 tightly to prevent rotation of the clamped portion of the pipe aboutits longitudinal axis and to prevent longitudinal movement of the piperelative to the carriages 14.

The portion of the pipe over each carriage 14 is essentially stiff. Theclamps 92 tightly hold the pipe in a position holding sprinklers 98carried thereby in upright positions. The portions of the pipe betweenthe carriages are supported somewhat flexibly,"can twist enough topermit adjacent carriages to tilt forwardly or rearwardly in oppositedirections, can flex vertically enough to permit the line to move overhills, undulating surfaces, and can flex horizontally enough to permitgreat horizontal misalignment of the carriages in the travel. Thecarriage frames are asymmetrical relative to the pipe 10, as illustratedin FIG. 3, preferably with the lefthand portion of each carriage framepointing toward a center pivot and water supply device 100 (FIG. 1) andthe righthand portion, as viewed in FIG. 3, vertical. However, this maybe reversed if desired, with all the left-hand portion of the carriageframes directly over the wheels and the righthand portions of thecarriage frames pointing away from the device 100.

The center pivot and water supply device 100 (FIGS. 1 and 6) includes anL-shaped supply pipe 102 having a horizontal portion 104 leading to ashutoff valve (not shown) and a vertical portion 106 projecting abovethe top of aconcrete support 108. A flushing pipe 1 10 has a valve 112which maybe manually opened when desired to flush debris'out' of thesupply pipe 102. A' swivel elbow 114 connected to the pipe 10 has averti cal portion 116 swiveled in the upper portion of the portion 106of the pipe 102. Spaced collars 1 18 welded to the portion 116 journalthe portion 116 in the portion 106, and a packing gland structure 122seals the portions 106 and 116 while allowing rotation of the portion116 in the portion 106.

A waterproof electrical cable conduit 128 leading from a remote controlpower supply and control station 130 (FIG. 14) extends through thesupport 108 (FIG. 6) and the pipe 102 is supported by a spider 132 whichalso braces the pipe 102. The conduit 128 also extends axially along theportion 106 and through a packing gland 134 in the elbow to a positionabove the elbow 106 and the elbow is rotatable around the conduit. Theconduit supports a base 136 of a well known, commercially available,swiveled connector box 137 having an inverted cup-shaped housing 138supported by a vertical bar 140 welded to the elbow 114. The base 136and the housing 138 carry slip ring connectors 139 (FIG. 14) connectingthe conductors in the conduit 128 (FIG. 6) to conductors in a conduit142 leading to and supporting a junction box 144 from which control andpower conduits 146 and 147 extend. The conduits 146 are waterproof andextend along and are carried by the pipe 10 to control boxes 148 (FIGS.10 and 11) carried by comer posts 150 secured to ears 151 welded to thepipe 10, with the bores 148 in positions substantially directly over thewheeled portions of the carriage l4 and close to the connector plates49. Power conduits 152 lead from the control boxes 148 to the motordrives 16. Shed-like covers 154 are detachably secured to the controlboxes.

As best shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 10, to limit the extent that eachcarriage 14 can get out of alignment with the carriage on either sidethereof, an actuator bar of spring steel is welded to the top of thepipe 10 along a short end portion 172 (FIG. 14) of the bar spaced aboutfive feet away from the adjacent carriage 14 and connector plate 49. Thebar 170 is rigid horizontally and flexible vertically throughout allportions except vertical end portion 174. End portion 174 of the bar 170is in a vertical plane including the centerline of the pipe 10 when theportion of the pipe below the bar is not flexed hroizontally, which isthe case when the immediate carriage (that is, the carriage mostadjacent the bar) is exactly abreast of the carriages adjacent it.However, if the immediate carriage gets too far ahead of the adjacentcarriage to its right, as viewed in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the portion of thepipe between the connecting plate 49 and the portion 172 of the actuatorbar 170 flexes as shown in broken lines in FIG. 14 and an adjustmentscrew 176 (FIG. 15) carried by the fork 175 rigidly mounted on the free,vertical, end portion 174 (FIGS. and 11) of the bar 170 engages apivotal forked arm of a toggle switch 178 and swings the forked arm fromits normal position to an actuated condition to open the switch 178 tocut off power to the motor drive 16 of the immediate carriage. Eachswitch 178 is fixedly mounted on the base of its control box and theshaft of the control switch extends downwardly through the base. Theimmediate carriage then stops until the adjacent carriage on its rightcomes more nearly abreast to straighten the pipe and move the adjustmentscrew 176 of the fork 175 away from the forked arm 178, which causes theswitch 178 to reclose to again start the motor drive 16. If the switch178 should fail to be opened for any reason, further lead of theimmediate carriage causes the adjustment screw 180 of switch operatingfork 181 on the bar 170 to open master switch 182 in control line 146 tocause shutoff relays 183 and 184 to shut valve 185 in water supply line187 to cut off all power to all the motor drives 16, stop the entireline and stop pump 196. Normally each motor drive is shut offperiodically when its carriage periodically leads beyond a predeterminedextent the adjacent carriage on farther from the pivot of the line andno control for normal lag of the immediate carriage is provided.However, if the lag of the immediate carriage should approach anexcessive extent, an adjustment screw 190 on the fork 181 opens theswitch 182 in the control lien 146 to stop the whole line and the pump196. The valve 185 is adjacent the pivot device 100 and in the watersupply pipe 102. A motor 191 driving a pump 193 also is automaticallydeenergized whenever the relay 183 is dropped out.

The drive of each of the carriages, except that of the I outermostcarriage most remote from the pivot of the line and the next to theoutermost carriage, is controlled by the actuator bars 170 and switches178 and 182 like those just described above. However, since each of thecarriages so controlled is stopped only by its lead over the carriagenext farther out approaching an excessive condition and the outermostcarriage having no carriage beyond it, the outermost carriage iscontrolled by an actuator bar 204 (FIGS. 8 and adjacent the next to theoutermost carriage shown in FIG. 8, which actuates one of the limitswitches 178 to stop the outermost carriage when the latter leads toofarfTo prevent the next to the outermost carriage (the penultimatecarriage) from excessively leading the outermost carriage, an actuatorbar 204, like the bar 170 but reversed, positioned inwardly of thepenultimate carriage actuates a limit switch 178 when the penultimatecarriage approaches an excessive lead relative to the outermostcarriage. Switches 182 corresponding to and in series with the otherswitches 182 in the control line 146 are provided for the bars 170 and204 to shut down the drive and water supply and fertilizer of the entireline if either of the outermost two carriages leads or lags excessively.

The actuator bars 170 and 204 are sufficiently strong and are tiltedsufficiently, though slightly, upwardly to keep shoes 220 (FIG. 2) justbarely touching the pipe when any adjacent portion of the pipe is bowedupwardly the maximum extent occurring in the operation of the line. Eachshoe 220 has a low friction, pipeengaging portion and slides freelyacross the pipe even when the adjacent portion of the pipe is bowedupwardly the maximum extent.

An adjustable timer 230 (FIG. 15) is adapted to be adjusted manually tointerrupt the drives 16 periodically for short periods of time if it isdesired to slow the line down from its maximum speed. Since thecarriages travel shorter paths the farther inwardly from the'outer endof the line the carriages are, the gear reducers are of different gearratios to approximately compensate for the different speeds required.Preferably, the ratios of the gear reducers are such relative to eachother that each carriage is driven slightly faster than the immediatelyadjacent carriage which is more outward from the center pivot. Thistends to cause the line to normally curve slightly backwardly from thecenter pivot outwardly. 1

A manual switch 301 (FIG. 15) may be set in an upper, manual position inwhich relay 184 is kept on by the switch and the timer 230, solenoids183 and 303, and hour meter 305 of an automatic control circuit aredeenergized. The switch 301 also may be set manual in a lower, automaticposition in which timer contacts 307 control the relay 184 and the timer230 and the solenoids 183 and 303 and the meter are energized. The linemay run forwardly when a manual switch 310 (FIG. 15 is open. However,when the switch 310 is set in a closed position, relays 312 areenergized to open contacts 314 in series with the switches 178 and toclose parallel contacts 316, which are in series with normally closedlimit switches 318. The relays 312 also I reverse contacts 321, 322, 323and 324 to the motor drive 16 to reverse the direction of drive.Whenever one of the carriages gets too far ahead, the bar or 204 causesadjustment screw 330 on the fork to move the fork to open the switch318. This stops the motor drive 16 until the lead of that carriage isreduced.

The floating trusses 30 impart high flexilibity to the line move andpermit the line move to be used successfully on rough ground as well ason level ground. The line can twist and flex or snake greatly withoutstopping and with no excessive stress applied to the line move. In oneembodiment, the line move was a quarter of a mile in length and operatedcontinuously even though the outermost carriage was over 300 feet out ofalignment with the innermost carriage, no excessive strain on the pipeoccurring. The floating nature of the trusses 30 and the flexibility ofthe end portions thereof permit the portions of the pipe 10 between thecarriages to flex without such restraint as to highly stress the pipe inlocalized areas while vertical beam support to th pipe still is providedby the trusses 30. The trusses 30 are preferably adjusted to a conditionwhere they are rather lightly stressed when the pipe 10, while filledwith cold water, is perfectly straight, which may be described as aneutral condition of the trusses. However, when the pipe is flexed ortwisted the trusses 30 are stressed to resist such bending or twistingthe pipe to the extent of relieving large portions of the stress but donot resist so greatly as to deprive the pipe of a great degree offlexilibity. This flexibility permitted by the trusses 30 enables theline to be used on rough terrain and with the carriages extensivelymisaligned relative to each other. When one of the carriages leads acarriage adjacent thereto, the portion of the truss 30 extendingtherebetween and adjacent the leading carriage rotates somewhat to therear of the pipe which rotation is permitted by the rotating connectionsbetween the frames 32 and 36 of the pipe. The reverse is true when oneof the carriages lags an adjacent carriage.

The above-described line move, while shown as a center pivot line,obviously can be used as a straight line move with minor changes obviousto those skilled in the art, The floating trusses, while providingexcellent beam support to the pipe, also prevent concentration of stressat localized portions of the pipe. As a result, the carriages have wideallowable limits in misalignment, opposite tilting forwardly andrearwardly of adjacent carriages is permitted, and the pipe can havelarge total twist and flexing with no breakage. By having each carriagedrive stopped only when that carriage approaches an excessive leadrelative to the adjacent carriage, the slowest carriage always isrunning, which keeps the line moving at the maximum speed of thatslowest carriage.

What is claimed is:

1. In an irrigation carriage,

frame means having a horizontal base portion having forked ends,

a pair of wheels,

a pair of axle means mounting the wheels,

pairs of self-aligning bearings supporting the pairs of axle means,

pairs of hanger means for connecting the bearings to the forked ends ofthe base portion of the frame means,

and adjustment means for adjusting at least one of the hanger meansalong the base means to adjust the angle of the axle means relative tothe base means.

2. The irrigation carriage of claim 1 wherein the adjustment means andhanger means adjusted thereby include a U-shaped slide fitting slidablyon the adjacent forked end portion, set screw means for moving the slidealong the forked end, and bolt means for clamping the slide to theforked end.

1. In an irrigation carriage, frame means having a horizontal baseportion having forked ends, a pair of wheels, a pair of axle meansmounting the wheels, pairs of self-aligning bearings supporting thepairs of axle means, pairs of hanger means for connecting the bearingsto the forked ends of the base portion of the frame means, andadjustment means for adjusting at least one of the hanger means alongthe base means to adjust the angle of the axle means relative to thebase means.
 2. The irrigation carriage of claim 1 wherein the adjustmentmeans and hanger means adjusted thereby include a U-shaped slide fittingslidably on the adjacent forked end portion, set screw means for movingthe slide along the forked end, and bolt means for clamping the slide tothe forked end.